Chapter 23 - the shadow on the terrace
By 6:00 AM, a thick gray fog had rolled in from the Long Island Sound, blanketing the grounds of the Moretti estate.
Elena stood by the nursery window on the third floor, holding baby Sofia against her shoulder. The infant was drinking warm milk, her tiny hands clutching Elena’s sweater. For the first time, Elena looked at the child not just as an abandoned baby she had saved from an alley, but as her sister.
Her half-sister.
The sound of twin rotor blades tore through the morning silence. A sleek black helicopter descended through the fog, landing smoothly on the private helipad behind the rose garden.
Minutes later, the front doors opened.
Elena stayed on the upper landing, concealed by the shadow of the grand staircase, watching as a tall, impeccably dressed man in a charcoal cashmere overcoat walked into the foyer.
Dominic Moretti looked remarkably like Lorenzo, but his features were sharper, his smile more practiced, his eyes cooler and more calculating.
"Lorenzo!" Dominic opened his arms, embracing his older brother with great theatrical warmth. "What a nightmare you have endured."
Lorenzo returned the embrace stiffly, stepping back after a brief second. "It was handled."
Dominic turned, handing his coat and gloves to the butler. As he turned, his gaze drifted up toward the grand staircase.
Elena didn't move. She stood in the dim light of the second-floor railing, holding Sofia.
Dominic's smile froze.
His eyes locked onto Elena’s face. For a fraction of a second, the polished mask slipped, revealing a look of pure, unadulterated horror—as if he had just seen a ghost walk out of a Sicilian cemetery.
Dominic swallowed, recovering his composure with terrifying speed, though his voice wavered slightly.
"And who... who is this young woman holding my niece?" Dominic asked, his eyes never leaving Elena’s face.
Lorenzo walked to the foot of the stairs, looking up at Elena with an expression of quiet pride.
"That is Elena," Lorenzo said, his voice echoing through the grand hall. "She is the woman who saved Sofia's life. And she is staying here."
May you like
Dominic’s fingers twitched at his side, brushing against the antique gold signet ring on his pinky finger.
The ring bore an engraved symbol: a dagger wrapped in an olive branch—the ancient crest of the Sicilian Notary.
